Greiner Bio-One GmbH has developed a new platform for the production and analysis of protein crystals. CrystalSlide for counter diffusion applications enables crystals to be analyzed in an X-ray source and is also suitable for applications with polarized and UV light.
A key prerequisite for targeted drug development is knowing the three-dimensional structure of proteins. However, the proteins must be available in the form of high-quality pure crystals. Producing and analyzing these is very time-consuming and thus expensive.
CrystalSlide has twelve microstructured channels. The design has been optimized to ensure that the inlets are suitable for manual filling using a pipette and the slides can be used in automated systems in conjunction with a frame in standard microplate format.
The benefits of CrystalSlide are not limited to the production of protein crystals. In addition to enabling its valuable contents to be analyzed under any conventional microscope, CrystalSlide is also suitable for all commonly used automated imaging systems. At just 0.6 mm thick, the polyolefin slides combine excellent optical characteristics with low birefringence and are permeable to UV light and X-rays for in-situ analysis of protein crystals. The low sample volume required just 600 nl also helps cut the cost of protein crystallisation processes significantly.
